


Painful Feeling

by StaciNadia



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Child Stiles, First Meetings, Full Shift Werewolves, Grief/Mourning, Happy Ending, M/M, Minor Character Death, Soul Bond, Teen Derek Hale, Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-18 21:26:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5943652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StaciNadia/pseuds/StaciNadia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek starts feeling sadness and pain, and he has no idea why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Painful Feeling

**Author's Note:**

  * For [queerlytired](https://archiveofourown.org/users/queerlytired/gifts).



> Made for the Sterek Secret Valentine on Tumblr! [Imbarelyhangingontomysanity](http://imbarelyhangingontomysanity.archiveofourown.com) wanted soulmates, so here we have young Sterek's first meeting!
> 
> Minor character death and circumstances of the soul bond are mentioned in the bottom notes, so skip ahead to them now in case there might be something upsetting for you.

Derek had grown up hearing about soulmates. His mother had described them as being the person who made you feel complete, two parts of a whole. She said that everyone didn’t always find their soulmates, but they were able to have happy relationships with other people. There just wouldn’t be that extra bond present that made soulmates so special. And finding one’s soulmate didn‘t automatically mean that the relationship would work out, either.

“Relationships take work, Derek,” his mother had said. “Soulmates have the potential to be the greatest bond between two people that you could ever have, even moreso than the pack and family bonds you feel with us.” 

Derek had trusted his mother , the great Talia Hale, alpha of the Hale pack, even if he hadn’t been able to hear her steady heartbeat to know she was telling the truth. His parents were soulmates, and he’d seen the shared looks, the adoring eyes, and all the romantic things they did for and with each other. He hoped that someday, he too would have a love they did. 

As a pack consisting mostly of werewolves, the Hale family had knowledge of the soulmate phenomenon and other supernatural occurrences. Humans knew of the supernatural world, but few of them were interested in that world despite the fact that two humans could still be soulmates. As a result of his heritage, Derek knew about how someone would feel a pull toward their soulmate if they were nearby or if they were in a great deal of pain. Derek had never asked what that pull was like, so he was unprepared for what was about to happen.

It was subtle, at first. He occasionally felt a sadness in his heart when he himself wasn’t feeling sad at all. It was odd but not really painful, so he wasn’t too concerned about it. A few months in, he started also feeling a small pain in his heart. He was confused, especially since werewolves normally didn’t get human sicknesses like heart attacks, but still didn’t say anything to his parents.

But then came a day when the pain in his heart became so great that he knew he had to say something. He’d actually collapsed into a chair, and he would be lying to himself if he didn’t admit he was becoming afraid of this strange sadness and ache.

When his mother came into view, he groaned out a “Mom!”, and she rushed over to him. He told her everything that happened over the past half a year or so, the phantom sadness and the pain in his heart. 

Talia looked shocked at first, but then her face softened as recognition shone through her eyes. “It will be okay, Derek. But tell me if the pain gets worse.”

Derek nodded, and that evening, the pain faded somewhat to a more bearable level. He sighed in relief, hoping the worse of this was over.

A few days later, while he and his family were playing around in the backyard, the pain in his heart came back, as strong as it had been before. He gasped and fell to his knees, his eyes wide with confusion. _Why does this keep happening?_

“What is it, Derek?” his mother asked, kneeling on the ground beside him.

“Heart. Hurts. It‘s… happening again.” Derek managed to get out despite the pain. 

“What‘s happening to him, Talia?” his father asked his mother, worry evident in his eyes.

“His soulmate,” She gave her husband and giving him a meaningful look. “His soulmate is in pain, and Derek is feeling it.”

“But he’s so young!” his father blurted out.

“But how can he have found his soulmate already?” Laura, his older sister asked. “Don’t both of them have to be 18 to be recognized as soulmates?”

“Yes,” his mother said, turning to her. “But soulmates can still find each other before.”

Derek wasn‘t listening to his family‘s conversation anymore. He had found his soulmate! And his soulmate was in pain! He crawled away towards the preserve, but the pain grew even stronger. He headed back towards his mother when he realized the pain had faded somewhat. He turned back to where he was originally going and the pain returned full force. _The pain leads me to my soulmate…_ Before anyone could notice, he quickly threw off his clothes, transformed into a young wolf and bounded off in the direction where the pain was stronger.

**********

Stiles was trying not to sob loudly as the tears rolled down his face. He buried his face into his father’s side as the casket with his mother’s body in it was lowered into the grave. He could feel his father’s large hand absently pat the back of his head.

His beloved mother had been sick for over half a year with frontotemporal dementia, meaning that she would forget things more and more until she even forgot her son. Stiles tried not to remember the horrible things she had accused him of and concentrated on remembering happy memories instead, like how she had baked him cookies and had listened to everything he said, even when he rambled on nonstop. How she was the only one who could say his real name properly.

His father could barely do anything anymore, he was so devastated at the loss of his wife. Stiles had even heard them call each other their soulmates. Soulmates were supposed to be pretty rare, though if you found them and loved them, you would have the best relationship ever. Stiles knew that his parents definitely had that magical sort of love. He didn’t know if he’d find his soulmate like his parents did, but he would sure try. Maybe he’d already met them!

The adults were all gathered around his father now. It seemed like everyone wanted to comfort the Sheriff. Stiles remained next to his mother’s grave, staring blankly at it. Then he looked out toward the preserve along the edge of the cemetery. It was dark in the forest, even the middle of a sunny day. As he stared, he saw two tiny points of gold glowing in the darkness.

He looked back towards everyone. They were all busy talking amongst themselves. No one was paying attention to him, and he was curious about what could be in the woods. He ran off towards the preserve, trying not to trip so as not to dirty his suit.

As he drew closer to the trees, he couldn’t see the gold lights anymore. Confused, Stiles wondered if he had imagined it. But it had seemed so real, and he’d felt like he was being drawn towards those lights.

He was about to turn back to where everyone was gathered when there was a rustling in the trees. Stiles tried not to move a muscle, waiting to see what it was. 

A black wolf cautiously stepped out of the trees. It had gold eyes and its fur looked very fluffy and soft. It looked curiously at Stiles and began to sniff at him. Stiles tried not to squirm too much from the cold wet nose nuzzling up to him. 

“H…hi, wolf,” Stiles hesitantly greeted his companion. “I’m Stiles.”

The wolf continued to sniff at him and moved on to his face. Suddenly it whined at him and looked at the boy with its head cocked to the side.

Stiles lifted his hand to his face and felt the wetness from his earlier tears. “My mom… She… went to heaven a few days ago.” He sniffled, trying not to cry again, but new tears fell anyways.

The wolf whined again and wound its body around Stiles, then started licking away his tears.

Stiles giggled, the first smile he’d had on his face since his mother’s death. He wrapped his small arms around the wolf and hugged it tightly. 

Eventually the pair found themselves on the ground, the wolf curled up around the boy, still occasionally sniffing and licking at him. Stiles let out a happy sigh and laid back, using the wolf as a comfortable pillow. He was so glad he went and looked for those gold eyes. Now he had a new friend. It was peaceful laying there with the beautiful and soft wolf.

“Stiles! Oh, thank God I found you!”

“Derek Hale, what were you doing?!”

Stiles bolted up quickly at the voice and looked around. His father was rushing over to him from the cemetery, while a beautiful dark-haired woman carrying a bundle of clothing was coming through the trees of the preserve.

“Dad! I‘m okay!” Stiles called out as his father ran over and hugged him. “Look, I made a new friend!” He pointed back towards the wolf.

But when Stiles turned to say something to the wolf, he saw the creature standing up with its head bowed down in front of the beautiful woman. “Derek, where did you go?” she asked.

“Derek” whined and wound himself around Stiles again, then looked up at the woman with big puppy eyes.

“I think we have some talking to do,“ the woman said. She held out the bundle of clothes. “Here, go into the preserve and shift back.” 

Derek carefully took the clothes into his mouth and ran into the preserve.

The woman then turned to Stiles’ father. “Sheriff Stilinski…” she nodded in greeting. “How are you doing? This must be such a difficult time for you.”

The sheriff nodded back. “Talia. It is… very difficult.”

“I have something important to discuss with you,” Talia said. “Derek has been feeling his soulmate’s pain for a while now, and the pain led him here to your son. I believe the two of them are soulmates..” She looked over at Stiles again.

“Soulmates?” his father asked in disbelief. “At their age? Stiles is barely ten years old! And your Derek can’t that much older! Isn‘t he thirteen?”

“Yes,” Talia confirmed. “It isn’t usual that soulmates meet so young. But it has happened before, and it has now happened to our children.”

Stiles was awed into silence. His father, however, sighed and ran a hand down his face. 

“It’s okay,” his mother said. “You’ve known for a while about the supernatural as an officer of the law.”

“Yes,” came his father’s reply. “And… my wife. My Claudia. She was my soulmate.” He closed his eyes. 

A dark-haired boy came out of the preserve then, his hair the same color as that of the small wolf. Stiles wondered if his hair was just as soft, too. And he thought the boy looked really pretty with his multi-colored eyes.

Stiles walked over to him and grabbed his hand. “Are you Derek?” he asked. “Are you really my _soulmate_? And a werewolf?”

The dark-haired boy nodded, a blush on his cheeks.

Stiles’ big brown eyes grew even larger. “Oh, wow, that is so cool!” he whispered, awestruck. “Werewolves are _awesome_! You are the best soulmate _ever_!” He let go of Derek’s hand and wrapped his arms around Derek’s waist. Another smile came to his lips as he felt Derek’s arm come up around him as well.

He glanced up at the two adults and saw that Talia was smiling sweetly at the two of them, and even his father managed a smile as he pat him on the head. 

“Everything will be okay,” Talia reassured Stiles‘ father. “You’ll see.”

**********

Years later, when Stiles and Derek exchanged their wedding vows in front of all their family and friends, the Sheriff hid a chuckle as Talia sent him a knowing smile. Everything was indeed okay. Their children were very much in love.

**Author's Note:**

> Minor character death is Claudia Stilinski, who is buried during this fic.  
> Because of the soul bond, Derek feels Stiles' sadness and heartbreak at his mother's sickness and death. The pain Stiles feels at the burial leads Derek to Stiles via the bond.
> 
> Come visit me on my [Tumblr](http://stacinadia.tumblr.com)!


End file.
